British regulators have approved Microsoft’s $69-billion takeover, having blocked the deal in April over competition concerns.The Competition and Markets Authority said in a statement Friday that it had cleared “the new deal for Microsoft to buy Activision without cloud gaming rights” after concluding “it would preserve competitive prices and better services”.
“We have now crossed the final regulatory hurdle to close this acquisition, which we believe will benefit players and the gaming industry worldwide,” he added in a statement.Microsoft launched its blockbuster takeover in January last year, an acquisition that would make it the world’s third-largest gaming company by revenue, but it faced stiff scrutiny from regulators, including also in the United States.
Under the new deal, Microsoft has agreed it would not take control of the cloud portion of Activision’s business, which will be transferred to French studio Ubisoft for 15 years. She again hit out over Microsoft’s handling of the regulatory process and warned other companies over employing similar tactics.
Aside from the concerns over cloud gaming, regulators had also worried that the initial deal would have allowed Microsoft to make Activision’s games exclusive to its Xbox.